Rohit Sharma Looks to Go Big Against Favourite Opposition KKR

New Delhi: He is destructive when it comes to the shorter formats of the game, but this Indian Premier League season hasn’t been the best for Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma. He has blown hot and cold and hit only two 30-plus scores so far in the 11th edition of the cash-rich league. But he faces his favourite opposition in Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday.

With 710 runs against KKR, he is the 2nd highest run getter against them in the IPL. Suresh Raina is the leading run getter with 746 runs. The Mumbai Indians skipper also averages 47.33 against KKR which is his best average among active IPL teams. But in the last 3 innings against KKR, Rohit has managed to score 55 runs at a strike rate of 107.84 and averages only 18.33. The skipper will definitely want to change that at the Wankhede Stadium.

After the KXIP match, Rohit felt that it will be difficult for the team to keep up the winning momentum going forward in the tournament. But he praised his players for putting up a collective effort on the field.

Speaking at the post-match presentation he said: “I think we are still alive. Good performance tonight, and a much-needed win for us. We needed everyone to come and put a collective effort. We started well with the ball. To restrict their batting unit on this pitch at this ground was a great effort. And to chase it down the way we did was really nice. It wasn’t really easy early on but we knew that we had a lot of depth in our batting. It will be a big challenge to continue the winning momentum.”

Rohit explained his decision to bat lower-down the order. He said: “The way we went about our chase in the first 10 overs, I felt we needed momentum. So, Hardik, the way he plays, was suited to do that. Hence, I held myself back for the end and having played here before, I know what kind of shots work. Always feels good when you finish off the chase.”

Despite the win, Rohit sounded alarmed about the leaking of runs in the death overs. “That is something which is a pattern for us. We’ve been giving too many at the death but that’s how the game goes. I had to bring Jasprit in the 19th over with two set batsmen and if he struck, it would have made things easier for Hardik. Plus the longer boundaries would have helped Hardik in the 20th over. That’s how it goes sometimes. I have to use Jasprit really well and the others around him are doing the job for us. It’s about being really smart with the ball.”